(Reuters) – A jump in Boeing shares lifted Wall Street on Wednesday, with investors remaining optimistic about an economic rebound from a coronavirus-led slump amid continuing social unrest in the country.
Traders wear masks as they work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., May 28, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
Boeing Co (BA.N) rose 10% and was the top boost to the blue-chip Dow Jones index .DJI after billionaire investor Daniel Loeb’s Third Point said it took a stake in the planemaker.
Microchip Technology Inc (MCHP.O) surged 11% after the chipmaker raised its forecast for current-quarter sales and profit as it begins making up for lost production due to the pandemic.
Data on Wednesday showed signs of stabilization in the domestic labor market after the ADP National Employment Report said private employers laid off another 2.76 million workers, lesser than an expected 9 million job losses.
The data comes ahead of the Labor Department’s more comprehensive jobs report on Friday and initial jobless claims data on Thursday.
Supporting the mood further was the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) reading, which showed U.S. services industry activity pushed off an 11-year low in May.
The Nasdaq index .IXIC is now just 1.8% away from a record high hit in mid-February, rising in seven of the past eight sessions, while the S&P 500 .SPX remains 8% below its all-time high as steadying economic data, unprecedented stimulus measures and the lifting of lockdowns have raised bets on a post-pandemic economic recovery.
“There is a growing feeling that we are over the worse of the economic pain caused by the pandemic,” said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK in London.
“The fact that last month’s reading (ADP report) was only a fraction of the April update, could be an early sign that we have moved past the most painful point and when you factor in the improvements in the U.S. services data, it shows the economy is in a less awful state.”
Markets have largely looked past brewing Sino-U.S. tensions and protests in the United States over the death of an unarmed black man at the hands of the police.
U.S. protesters ignored curfews overnight as they vented their anger, but there was a marked drop in the violence that prompted President Donald Trump to threaten to deploy the military.
At 11:46 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 433.89 points, or 1.69%, at 26,176.54, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 36.77 points, or 1.19%, at 3,117.59 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 57.91 points, or 0.60%, at 9,666.29.
Ride-hailing firm Lyft Inc (LYFT.O) rose 9.3% after reporting a jump in rides on its platform in May from the prior month.
Coty Inc (COTY.N) jumped 6.3% after the cosmetics maker said it was in talks with reality TV star Kim Kardashian West on a possible collaboration for a beauty line.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 4.28-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 2.51-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 30 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 81 new highs and three new lows.
Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal Devik Jain and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta